Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions.For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who forsake Him.”So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He listened to our entreaty.

Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,And declare in the coastlands afar off,And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather himAnd keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”For the Lord has ransomed JacobAnd redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.

“No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.

Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure on their land. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them.They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will live securely, and no one will make them afraid.

“Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God:“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.read more.“Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.“Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.“Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?Just as it is written,“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.read more.For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”so that we confidently say,“The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.What will man do to me?”

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most HighWill abide in the shadow of the Almighty.I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,My God, in whom I trust!”For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapperAnd from the deadly pestilence.read more.He will cover you with His pinions,And under His wings you may seek refuge;His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.You will not be afraid of the terror by night,Or of the arrow that flies by day;Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.A thousand may fall at your sideAnd ten thousand at your right hand,But it shall not approach you.You will only look on with your eyesAnd see the recompense of the wicked.For you have made the Lord, my refuge,Even the Most High, your dwelling place.No evil will befall you,Nor will any plague come near your tent.For He will give His angels charge concerning you,To guard you in all your ways.They will bear you up in their hands,That you do not strike your foot against a stone.You will tread upon the lion and cobra,The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.“Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.“He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;I will be with him in trouble;I will rescue him and honor him.

“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.“Even after my skin is destroyed,Yet from my flesh I shall see God;Whom I myself shall behold,And whom my eyes will see and not another.My heart faints within me!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

And He will judge between the nations,And will render decisions for many peoples;And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.Nation will not lift up sword against nation,And never again will they learn war.

And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;And a little boy will lead them.Also the cow and the bear will graze,Their young will lie down together,And the lion will eat straw like the ox.The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.read more.They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LordAs the waters cover the sea.

“They will build houses and inhabit them;They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.“They will not build and another inhabit,They will not plant and another eat;For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.“They will not labor in vain,Or bear children for calamity;For they are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord,And their descendants with them.read more.It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says the Lord.

And He will judge between many peoplesAnd render decisions for mighty, distant nations.Then they will hammer their swords into plowsharesAnd their spears into pruning hooks;Nation will not lift up sword against nation,And never again will they train for war.Each of them will sit under his vineAnd under his fig tree,With no one to make them afraid,For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but stay here with my maids.Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have commanded the servants not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the water jars and drink from what the servants draw.”

Now Nahash the Ammonite came up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us and we will serve you.”But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “I will make it with you on this condition, that I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you, thus I will make it a reproach on all Israel.”The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Let us alone for seven days, that we may send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to deliver us, we will come out to you.”read more.Then the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and spoke these words in the hearing of the people, and all the people lifted up their voices and wept.Now behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen, and he said, “What is the matter with the people that they weep?” So they related to him the words of the men of Jabesh.Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and he became very angry.

Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have brought about the death of every person in your father’s household.Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life, for you are safe with me.”

“Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and your colleagues, the officials of the provinces beyond the River, keep away from there.Leave this work on the house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site.

And as a great dissension was developing, the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them and ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.

My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor,Have given a pledge for a stranger,If you have been snared with the words of your mouth,Have been caught with the words of your mouth,Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself;Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,Go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor.read more.Give no sleep to your eyes,Nor slumber to your eyelids;Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s handAnd like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition.For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.

Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed,shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;

“I will make justice the measuring lineAnd righteousness the level;Then hail will sweep away the refuge of liesAnd the waters will overflow the secret place.“Your covenant with death will be canceled,And your pact with Sheol will not stand;When the overwhelming scourge passes through,Then you become its trampling place.

Then the Lord said,“Because this people draw near with their wordsAnd honor Me with their lip service,But they remove their hearts far from Me,And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord,And whose deeds are done in a dark place,And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”

In his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred, but he will come in a time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by intrigue.The overflowing forces will be flooded away before him and shattered, and also the prince of the covenant.After an alliance is made with him he will practice deception, and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people.read more.In a time of tranquility he will enter the richest parts of the realm, and he will accomplish what his fathers never did, nor his ancestors; he will distribute plunder, booty and possessions among them, and he will devise his schemes against strongholds, but only for a time.

Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write:He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

“But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes,and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless.

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’read more.Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.

For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. Cross references: 1 John 1:1 : John 1:1f; 1 John 2:13, 14 1 John 1:1 : Acts 4:20; 1 John 1:3 1 John 1:1 : John 19:35; 2 Pet 1:16; 1 John 1:2 1 John 1:1 : John 1:14; 1 John 4:14 1 John 1:1 : Luke 24:39; John 20:27 1 John 1:1 : John 1:1, 4 1 John 1:2 : John 1:4; 1 John 3:5, 8; 5:20 1 John 1:2 : John 19:35; 1 John 1:1 1 John 1:2 : John 15:27; 1 John 4:14 1 John 1:2 : John 10:28; 17:3; 1 John 2:25; 5:11, 13, 20 1 John 1:2 : John 1:1 1 John 1:2 : John 1:4; 1 John 3:5, 8; 5:20 1 John 1:3 : John 19:35; 2 Pet 1:16; 1 John 1:1 1 John 1:3 : Acts 4:20; 1 John 1:1 1 John 1:3 : John 17:3, 21; 1 Cor 1:9 1 John 1:4 : 1 John 2:1 1 John 1:4 : John 3:29 1 John 1:5 : John 1:19; 1 John 3:11 1 John 1:5 : 1 Tim 6:16; James 1:17 1 John 1:6 : John 8:12; 1 John 2:11 1 John 1:6 : John 8:55; 1 John 2:4; 4:20 1 John 1:6 : John 3:21 1 John 1:7 : Is 2:5 1 John 1:7 : 1 Tim 6:16 1 John 1:7 : Titus 2:14 1 John 1:8 : Job 15:14; Prov 20:9; Rom 3:10ff; James 3:2 1 John 1:8 : John 8:44; 1 John 2:4 1 John 1:9 : Ps 32:5; Prov 28:13 1 John 1:9 : Titus 2:14 1 John 1:10 : Job 15:14 1 John 1:10 : John 3:33; 1 John 5:10 1 John 1:10 : 1 John 2:14 end of crossrefs

Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were in it living in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no ruler humiliating them for anything in the land, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.

He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave.The men of David said to him, “Behold, this is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.’” Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly.

And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building;

and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.

And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads." And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: read more.from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

They rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the Lord your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.”

Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,And with Sheol we have made a pact.The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by,For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”

“But these two things will come on you suddenly in one day:Loss of children and widowhood.They will come on you in full measureIn spite of your many sorceries,In spite of the great power of your spells.

To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’

Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,And with Sheol we have made a pact.The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by,For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”

“As for the terror of you,The arrogance of your heart has deceived you,O you who live in the clefts of the rock,Who occupy the height of the hill.Though you make your nest as high as an eagle’s,I will bring you down from there,” declares the Lord.